Public parks are critical urban infrastructures offering health, environmental, social, and cultural benefits to people. However, the idea of park quality has lacked a clear operational definition and normative standard for measurement. We provide critical insights into existing park quality instruments and advocate for an alternative approach. First, due to the significant diversity in parks, inherent ambiguity and subjectivity in the idea of quality, and previous instruments’ inconsistent operationalizations of park quality, we recommend that future research shift its focus from creating instruments for universal application and standardized measurement to developing an inventory or list of park quality indicators that researchers and practitioners can selectively choose for their unique park contexts. Second, through our multidisciplinary examination, we identify five limitations in existing park quality instruments: (1) lack of attention to the histories of marginalized communities, (2) overemphasis on physical activities and public health, (3) lack of attention to ecological function and biodiversity, (4) lack of subjective measurements, and (5) insufficient consideration of multiple parks or a park system. Overall, a more flexible and site-specific approach to park quality measurement and the adoption of new indicators of park quality are expected to accomplish a more comprehensive and fairer assessment of park quality, contributing to park equity research and practice.

中文翻译：

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现有公园质量工具的局限性以及对未来研究的建议


公园是重要的城市基础设施，为人们提供健康、环境、社会和文化效益。然而，公园质量的理念缺乏明确的可操作性定义和规范性的衡量标准。我们对现有公园质量工具提供重要见解，并倡导替代方法。首先，由于公园的多样性、质量概念固有的模糊性和主观性，以及以往的公园质量工具在操作上的不一致，我们建议未来的研究重点从创建通用和标准化测量的工具转向开发研究人员和从业者可以根据其独特的公园环境选择性地选择公园质量指标的清单或列表。其次，通过多学科审查，我们发现现有公园质量工具存在五个局限性：（1）缺乏对边缘社区历史的关注，（2）过分强调体育活动和公共卫生，（3）缺乏对生态功能的关注和生物多样性，（4）缺乏主观测量，（5）对多个公园或公园系统的考虑不足。总体而言，更加灵活、因地制宜的公园质量衡量方法以及新的公园质量指标的采用，有望实现更加全面、更加公平的公园质量评估，为公园公平性的研究和实践做出贡献。